"Big Data" has been the trending word for years now. Data is everywhere, it surrounds us, in every corner across our non-stop digital journey. We even produce data, whoever we are : Anyone can save his own favorites, recommends some place, leave notes on some article, etc.

This is great, until we powerlessly realize that we don't find the information we need in the right moment. So you decide, it is time to put some order in your notes. You start looking for your assistant, and you find numerous solutions all of them claiming to be be your best companion. Then, you may stick to your good old notebook or agenda. However, you have tons of links, images, voice notes, complex information, timestamps, some files here and there, .. you can not avoid digital solutions ! Okay, we are not wired the same way, some people feel comfortable in a disorganized workpalce, and they should be respected for that by their employers or colleagues; however, anyone would learn over time that there is a need of a minimum level of organization to be more productive, faster, etc.

After about 11 years dealing with various productivity tools, I would like to take a break, to digest my experience as a long-term user who is sometimes lazy, sometimes obsessed with organization, sometimes open to new solutions, sometimes "conservative" and stick to old-fashioned solutions. I am glad today to share my personal perspective of the productivity toolbox. Which solutions to keep or to kick ?

Before venturing into a detailed review of the tools I know, let me just jump to the conclusion: there is no perfect solution. Furthermore, there is no unique model of self-organization.You should build your own toolbox starting from your own goals and usage cases. If you are student or researcher, then you may consider effectively indexing your resources and notes. If you are into project management, then you would be more interest in visualizations, reminders and other features.

Yet, shall we keep in mind that not all productivity tools compare to each other. There are distinct families of those tools: we will pick one or more candidates from each one.

But first, clean your mind! clean your desktop! clean your browser which may contain dozens of open tabs right now. Help yourself to focus on one and only one task at once, unless you are comfortable in multitasking.

My next post will be about very simple routines to clean your virtual workplace, and you will lose nothing! No worries! Stay tuned!

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